Which defense mechanism involves the unconscious adoption of the ideas or attitudes of others?

Which defense mechanism involves the unconscious adoption of the ideas or attitudes of others?

• A. Introjection
• B. Identification
• C. Displacement
• D. Minimization

Answer: (A)

This defense mechanism involves unconsciously taking in the ideas or attitudes of someone else and making them part of your own mental framework. It helps explain why a person might adopt another’s values as if they were their own, often to reduce anxiety or feel connected to that other person. For example, a child may absorb parental rules and treat them as their own inner voice, guiding behavior from within. This differs from identification, which is more about modeling oneself after someone and adopting their traits as part of the self-concept, and from displacement, which shifts emotions from the original source to a safer target, and from minimization, which downplays the importance of a situation.

This defense mechanism involves unconsciously taking in the ideas or attitudes of someone else and making them part of your own mental framework. It helps explain why a person might adopt another’s values as if they were their own, often to reduce anxiety or feel connected to that other person. For example, a child may absorb parental rules and treat them as their own inner voice, guiding behavior from within. This differs from identification, which is more about modeling oneself after someone and adopting their traits as part of the self-concept, and from displacement, which shifts emotions from the original source to a safer target, and from minimization, which downplays the importance of a situation.